Broken promise

After reading Jim Mallon and Jerry Rioux’s letters Nov. 6, it’s clear they are very serious about confronting the “incomplete half-truths,” “baldfaced lies” and “misinformation” being printed in The Tribune. Mr. Mallon goes so far as to suggest The Tribune should vet letters claiming negative impact from Obamacare.

I applaud him and Mr. Rioux for their concern, but I do find it interesting that they don’t seem to extend that same concern to the “half-truths” coming directly from the White House.

Along with an estimated 900,000 Californians expected to also lose their insurance, I took the president at his word — “If you like your plan, if you like your doctor, you can keep them. Period.” Given their obvious concern, I’m very interested in how Mr. Mallon and Mr. Rioux would characterize that statement, because I know how I interpreted it: “Period” means “without exception.”

But somehow, we are now to believe that is not what the president meant the dozens of times he publicly uttered that statement. While we can certainly argue over the details of personal anecdotes, it is indisputable that the president broke his promise, and it’s hurting many Americans.